Nato calls for calm after police kill 14 Albanian insurgents

One of eight policemen killed in the violence is mourned by his familyRobert Atanasovski/Getty Images

The head of Nato appealed for calm in the Balkans yesterday after Macedonian forces fought ethnic Albanian insurgents, leaving at least 22 people dead.

An armed group led by Kosovan Albanians was “completely eliminated” in a gunfight in the northern town of Kumanovo, the local police chief said.

Eight police were killed and 37 wounded while at least 14 members of the armed group were shot dead and more than 30 were arrested in a region where ethnic Albanians have long demanded independence.

Macedonia, which was created in 1991 after the break-up of Yugoslavia, suffered a violent Albanian uprising in 2001 in the north and west. It was settled by a peace deal that granted more autonomy and language rights. Ethnic Albanians make up about…